Review: St Moriz Instant Self Tanning Mousse

I love how nowadays you don't have to bake in the sun, subjecting yourself to harmful sun damage to get a nice tan, you can just slap on some self tanner and you are good to go. Being a pale girl, summertime scares me, because it means I will glow like a ghost when I go out in public. In the past I have embraced this paleness, but this summer I wanted to look normal like everyone else. Please don't take this to mean that I think being pale isn't beautiful, it is, but some of us can rock it and others can't and wish to be darker. St Moriz was my first attempt ever at a self tanning product. I have used gradual tanners from the drugstore before, ones from Dove, Jergens and the likes, but never an instant tanning product. I have looked into St Tropez, but it's far too expensive, and since I wasn't sure if I was going to like the self-tanning thing, I wanted to try something more affordable.

St Moriz is known on the interweb as being a dupe for St Tropez, it's much cheaper and does the same thing. It's an instant tanner that promises "professional flawless tan, easy, no mess application". St.Moriz is made in England, so it's next to impossible to find in Canada and the US. I purchased mine from Amazon.com, there are two sellers that carry it, both in the UK, Cosmetics Factory and Blush Cosmetics. I purchased mine from the latter, it was $8.12 for the product and $6.63 shipping to Canada. I was pleased that they even shipped, since many sellers on Amazon.com do not ship to Canada. This is the only place that I know of that carries this product anywhere. If you know of anywhere, please leave me a comment below.

A closer look at the packaging of St Moriz, it comes in a white 200ml bottle with a pump applicator. The directions state to exfoliate your skin, moisturize the dry area of the skin (ie knees, elbows, hands, ankles, feet and hairline), apply the mousse by rubbing gentle and evenly onto the skin, allowing the mousse to absorb. Wash hands after use or wear gloves. For best results apply in the morning and allow at least 4 to 6 hours for the tan to develop before showering. For a mid tan re-apply in 5 to 7 days, for a dark tan, re-apply in 5 to 5 days. I remember Lollipop26 did a comparison of this and St Tropez and apparently the ingredients are almost identical, I haven't used St Tropez so I cannot comment.

This is what the mousse looks when you pump some out. It's a light brown mousse consistency, it has quite a bit of water in it, notice it pooling around my skin. I would use several pumps on this stuff on my arm to get the right deepness. This product also comes in a "dark" version, I just have the regular here. It doesn't leave me looking too dark, no Jersey Shore-esque look at all, it just leaves me looking more alive if that makes sense, I think it makes my skin look normal, like I leave the house once in a while!

People often complain about the terrible smell that these products have, I don't notice anything terrible, I do notice a scent, but it's not bothersome. Every UK youtuber that reviews this product says it smells like biscuits, now in North America, biscuits are cookies and they smell good, so I am not understanding this comparison very well, perhaps someone could explain it to me. It's funny how everyone says it though.

(I will add a picture here of before and after, I just need someone to take the pictures for me, stay tuned!)

My only real issue with St Moriz is how it leaks when you shake it up sometimes, and even when you apply it you get the liquid separating from the mousse. It makes for a messy application. Also you do have to exfoliate well and moisturize, I do notice this piles up in my dry areas and looks terrible, I think this a safe bet for all tanning products however. Those with dry skin beware. This product does set straight away on the skin and gives instant colour, so you have to work quickly, although I like that about it, you see where the color is and can blend it accordingly.

I use a St Tropez tanning mit to apply this product, this cost me $8, I thought I would splurge on the mit since the tanning product was so cheap. Big spender me! I think this sort of thing is great for application because it means your hands won't get dirty and you can get even application. It works well on arms and legs. These mits are washable and reusable, you can see mine has turned slightly red from use. I have applied St Moriz to my face, but I am apprehensive to, since I am afraid it may break me out. I haven't noticed any breakouts on my body yet.

Would I recommend this product? If you can find it this is a great budget self tanning product. For the price it's awesome, I love the look that it gives me. Let me know what tanning products you have used and recommend.